Giants of Land and Sea is an exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences that focuses on the unique ecosystems of Northern California, this exhibit focused on 3 main topics; sea life, redwood forests, and plate tectonics. I developed the graphic identity, wordmark, and various 3d elements for this exhibit. I worked within a multidisciplinary team of content developers, 3d designers, and scientists.

The back side of the skeleton articulation displays covers our impacts as humans on the ocean and environment.

The center of the exhibit ties all the specimens throughout the exhibit into a story of how the beaultiful California coast was created. Only through millions of years of tectonic movement, ocean currents, and the physics of fog are all the incredible creatures and environments able to exist in one place.

Under a giant 30 foot tall and 90 foot wide scale image of a redwood forest are planters filled with native species. There are ferns, sorrels, models of newts and slugs, and even a living and growing redwood sapling. This area is dedicated to the small creatures that live in redwood forests and make the dense life possible.

Flanking a 1300 year old redwood round are graphics that help interpret how much scientists can learn about Northern California's past through a single tree. There are large graphics that also explain what humans have done to devastate these massive trees in the past, and efforts we are making to restore them to their former glory.

Design System

This is a sampling of the graphic family throughout the exhibit. I was inspired by the iconic fog that flows through the California coast, obscuring and revealing the landscape. Strong vertical rectangles mimic the scale of the redwoods and massive whales and help to accentuate the scale of the specimens and exhibits.

The typeface fmaily consisted of Whitney, the Academy's brand font, and PingFang SC for the Chinese translations.

The logo was designed two ways to cover the multiple use cases.

The color family was split into the three content section with specific gradient and image treatments.